Bad Website Design Tips

Even site that don't use good site design for their websites can make it into the top 20 of the search engines. Make your site visitor friendly so they will not only stay, but come back later to obtain more information.

Here are some common problems you may want to avoid with your site.

1. Slow Loading Pages - Use smaller images to have your pages load quicker.

2. Spelling and Grammar mistakes - Make sure you read your pages before you upload to the Internet.

3. Music continuously playing while on site - If your site is geared towards music, then fine, but there are to many sites I have found that the music does not shut off. Not all visitors may enjoy your taste in music.

4. Fonts that are very difficult to read - Many web design software comes with numerous font styles. Some of them are very difficult to read. You may also want to keep with the same style throughout the site.

5. Small font - Anything below 12pt font can be difficult for many people to read. Try to stay away from the smaller font size.

6.Confusing navigation menus (or none available) - Place the navigational menus in the same place for each page. Make sure your navigational menus are easily located.

7. Not being able to search your whole website - Use a search block if you have a very large website to help visitors find information.

8. Do not underline - Many people may view these as links and get frustrated when they find out they are not links. Use italicized, bold or highlight instead.

9. Links are not easily visible - Don't blend your links in with your content. Make sure they stand out.

10. Avoid intro pages - Unless you have a special website and need to have an intro page, these should be avoided. Let your customer go straight to your site.

11. Avoid many bright colors - Unless your site is themed for bright colors, using to much color can be a bad idea.

12. Avoid long pages - Since most visitors will scan the information on the page, keep it short and simple. If there is a lot of information for your content, create multiple pages, which in turn could keep them longer on the site.

13. Under construction - Don't upload pages that are half done. If you are working on a page, finish it before you upload.

14. Old content - Check your content periodically to make sure that it is up-to-date. No visitor will like going to a web site because they believe they have found the information they were searching for only to find out that it is out of date.

15. No prices - Make sure you have prices on every product you are selling. Many people will not e-mail you to find out how much it costs, they will just find some place else to purchase it.

16. Blurry or out of focus images - With the price of good quality images available online, don't scrimp and put blurry or out of focus images on your site.

17. Not using alt text for images - The alt text can help not only search engine spiders "see" the picture, but many people use software to read the page. Make sure you add the alt text to all images.

18. Not checking your links - Your visitors may become very frustrated if they keep getting a 404 error page. Make sure you check each link on your site.

19. Cluttered with ads or information not related to your site theme - People are looking for information, don't overdo the ads or other information that is not related to your site.